Business Brief: First home buyers, housing finance figures and 'shy' investors

14/05/2019|4min

FULL INTERVIEW: Managing Director of Market Economics, Stephen Koukoulas, has shed light on the recent sharp fall in housing finance, which has sparked fears Australia is yet to hit the bottom of the property market downturn.
Mr Koukoulas says both investors and property occupiers are 'shying away' from the housing market, triggering another two per cent decline in housing finance commitments.
Despite the decline, Mr Koukoulas says there is a 'hint' that lower property prices are 'attracting first home buyers', who have otherwise been 'frozen out of the property market' for over a decade.
His comments come after the Coalition announced its first home buyers scheme, a Labor-backed policy which would allow people to buy a home with just a five per cent deposit.